The station was opened on 10 January 1863 as the terminus of the original Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground metro line. The station, initially named Farringdon Street, was originally a short distance from the present station building. The line ran from the Farringdon area to Paddington, a distance of 4 mi (6 km). The station was relocated on 23 December 1865 when the Metropolitan Railway opened an extension to Moorgate. It was renamed Farringdon & High Holborn on 26 January 1922 when the new building by the architect Charles Walter Clark[6] facing Cowcross Street was opened, and its present name was adopted on 21 April 1936.[7] It was built in conjunction with a freight station to take livestock to a slaughterhouse to its south-east to supply Smithfield Market; remains of cattle ramps front the street West Smithfield. Smithfield was redesignated as a wholesale 'deadmeat' market in the 19th century and the Freight station was last used in the 1920s.

The Metropolitan Railway's second Farringdon station, 1866.

The station frontage carrying the name Farringdon & High Holborn, 1989.

The lines from Farringdon to King's Cross run alongside the Fleet ditch, culverted since 1734.[8] The station building is unusually well-preserved early 20th-century London Underground architecture. It retains indications of the Metropolitan Railway's main-line style operation such as a sign for a Parcel Office on the outer wall and some original signage (with the 1922–1936 name on the façade.

There are three major rail development projects in progress that involve Farringdon. Crossrail is a new east-west railway scheduled to open in 2018, but now delayed until autumn 2019; the Thameslink Programme is a major upgrade to the existing north-south Thameslink route, enabling longer and more frequent trains, completed in 2018 and the Four Lines Modernisation which involves the wholesale resignalling of the London Underground's Sub-surface lines bringing a major boost in capacity to Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan line services calling at Farringdon once the project is completed by 2023.[10]

Once all projects have been completed by 2023, Farringdon will be one of the country's busiest stations with approximately 200 tph or the equivalent of one departure every 20 seconds.[11] It will be the only station where passengers can change between Crossrail and Thameslink. A new building, housing a dedicated ticket hall, has been constructed to serve these extra passengers. The new building is to the immediate south of the original station, which itself has been upgraded as part of the programme.

An additional entrance has also been built at the north end of the original station, onto Turnmill Street.

Farringdon Station has been rebuilt[12] to accommodate longer Thameslink trains and to make other improvements to the station.[13] The existing station building has been refurbished with a new roof canopy covering the north end of all four platforms and a new entrance and concourse facing Turnmill Street. An additional ticket hall has been built on the south side of Cowcross Street providing access to the Thameslink platforms, which have been extended southwards underneath this building, allowing the station to handle 240 m (12-carriage) trains. Platforms have been widened to accommodate increased passenger numbers. This process required the bridge that formed Cowcross Street to be demolished and rebuilt.[14] Cowcross Street is now pedestrianised.[15] Lifts have been provided throughout.

The existing listed ticket hall and concourse have been remodelled, for use by London Underground and Thameslink passengers.[16] Interchange within the station has been improved by removing the interchange bridge and installing new stairs and lifts with access to all four platforms, allowing passengers with impaired mobility to use the station.[17]

It was necessary to build the Thameslink platform extensions to the south, since there is a sharp gradient to the immediate north of the station. This resulted in the two-station branch to Moorgate being permanently closed.[18] The platform extensions cross the former Moorgate line and reach within a few metres of the entrance of the Snow Hill Tunnel.[19] The alternative of realigning both the Thameslink and Circle/Hammersmith & City/Metropolitan lines was impractical as the latter crosses over the former on a bridge almost immediately to the north of the station.[19]

The Farringdon Crossrail station is being built between Farringdon and Barbican Underground stations and it will have interchanges with both of them.[20] Access at the Farringdon end will be via the new Thameslink ticket hall. Work was anticipated to be completed in 2018, but the scheduled opening date was postponed and is now planned for Autumn 2019.[21][22] Crossrail will link Farringdon to Canary Wharf, Abbey Wood, Stratford, and Shenfield in the east with Paddington, Heathrow and Reading in the west . The station will also be a hub for cross-London travel, being the only station to be on both the north-south Thameslink service and the east-west Crossrail service.[23]

The Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines otherwise known as the Sub-Surface lines make up over 40% of the London Underground network moving over 1.3 million passengers everyday stretching from busy commuter hubs to rural backwaters. They also cover some of the oldest infrastructure on the Underground network. For example, Edgware Road signal cabin situated on the Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines between Baker Street and Paddington opened in 1926 and is still in operation today requiring over 3600 manually operated lever movements a day.[24][25] This ageing system uses fixed block signalling where the track is divided into segments to keep trains a safe distance from each other. At the moment trains run further apart than they need to and data isn't centrally monitored which means that this system requires regular maintenance and faults are more expensive, as well as taking longer to locate and fix any faulty equipment which in-turn reduces service reliability.

Since the Sub-Surface lines are closely interlinked Transport For London announced in March 2015 that the Sub-surface lines would be subject to a wholesale re-signalling programme to be known collectively as the Four Lines Modernisation or 4LM for short. The upgrade will replace all the signalling equipment on all four lines which will be monitored from a new control centre currently under construction in Hammersmith replacing the numerous signal cabins and service control centres across the four lines.[24]

The new signalling system uses the ThalesSelTrac moving block system otherwise known as Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) which uses Wifi to constantly let controllers know where trains are and how fast they are going. Precise speeds will be set by computers so trains will be able to run at higher speeds and closer together with a maximum service frequency of 32 trains per hour (every 2 minutes) in central London by the time the upgrade is complete in 2023. As well as reducing journey times a 33% increase in capacity will be created on all four lines making the best use out of 192 S-Stock trains which too have a universal design exclusively for the Sub-surface lines.[24]

From 2021: more frequent trains in Zone 1 (30 trains per hour) at the busiest times

From 2022: more frequent services in central London (up to 32 tph at peak times) and increases on the rest of the Metropolitan, District, and Hammersmith and City lines both at peak and off-peak periods

From 2023: a further increase in services on the Metropolitan line at peak times, and increases in off peak services across all four lines

Farringdon station is notable because Thameslink trains switch between the 25 kVAC overhead supply used to the north of London and the 750 V DCthird rail supply used to the south whilst standing at the platform. The trains that formerly ran to Moorgate used 25 kV AC throughout their journeys. This project was installed by the Network SouthEast sector of British Rail in May 1988.

Until the start of the Thameslink Programme southbound trains that were unable to switch to DC were taken out of service at Farringdon and stabled at Moorgate to prevent them from blocking the core section of the Thameslink route. As this option is no longer possible the catenary has been extended to City Thameslink to enable these trains to continue to the southbound platform[26] at City Thameslink using AC and then return northwards using the new crossover in Snow Hill Tunnel.[27] The pantograph on southbound trains is normally lowered at Farringdon.

On 5 January 1867, 16 people were injured at Farringdon Street station in a rear-end collision caused by a signaller's error.[28]

On 5 January 1892, a defective axlebox resulted in the derailment of part of a train shortly after it had departed Farringdon Street. Five passengers were injured.[29]

On 26 November 1907, a train in the process of departing Farringdon Street was rear-ended by a second train entering the station.[30]

On 1 May 1939, a total of 31 people were injured when a Circle line train was involved in a minor collision with a railway engine. Seventeen passengers reported they had suffered shock and injury while a further nine subsequently complained that they had incurred minor injuries. Five crew members were also injured.[31]

On 22 May 1954, three people in a lorry were killed when it fell from a bridge on to the tracks near Farringdon. A goods train collied with the lorry shortly after departing Farringdon.[32][33]

The Metropolitan line is the only line to operate express services, though currently this is only during peak times (Westbound 06:30–09:30 / Eastbound 16:00–19:00). Fast services run non-stop between Wembley Park, Harrow-on-the-Hill and Moor Park. Semi-fast services run non-stop between Wembley Park and Harrow-on-the-Hill.[35]

After midnight, on all days, a half-hourly service runs between Bedford and Three Bridges.[37]

Prior to 2009, Thameslink services also ran to Moorgate via Barbican with trains diverging of the core route east of the platforms at Farringdon, this section of line was closed as part of the Thameslink Programme which involved the construction of a new ticket hall and the lengthening of platforms at Farringdon to enable platform extensions to accommodate longer 12 carriage trains which covered over the junction in the process.

1.
Farington railway station
–
Farington railway station served Farington, south of Preston in Lancashire, England. The station opened on 31 October 1838 under the ownership of the North Union Railway, in October 1857 it was renamed Farington. It became a junction in 1846 when the Blackburn and Preston Railway opened its line from Blackburn, which joined the main line a short distance to the south. Thereafter original B&PR link fell into disuse and was severed, whilst the station reverted to a purely local role and this was quadrupled at the end of the 19th century and the station expanded to four platforms as a consequence. Farington station was closed by the British Transport Commission on 7 March 1960, west Coast Main Line trains run through Farington and still carry many inter-city and semi-local services and the East Lancashire Line crosses over the line close by. Lostock Hall railway station and Leyland railway station are the nearest stops to the village, yeovil, Patrick Stephens Ltd. p.95

2.
London Underground
–
The London Underground is a public rapid transit system serving London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2015–16 carried 1.34 billion passengers, the 11 lines collectively handle approximately 4.8 million passengers a day. The system has 270 stations and 250 miles of track, despite its name, only 45% of the system is actually underground in tunnels, with much of the network in the outer environs of London being on the surface. In addition, the Underground does not cover most southern parts of Greater London, the current operator, London Underground Limited, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London, the statutory corporation responsible for the transport network in Greater London. As of 2015, 92% of operational expenditure is covered by passenger fares, the Travelcard ticket was introduced in 1983 and Oyster, a contactless ticketing system, in 2003. Contactless card payments were introduced in 2014, the LPTB was a prominent patron of art and design, commissioning many new station buildings, posters and public artworks in a modernist style. Other famous London Underground branding includes the roundel and Johnston typeface, to prepare construction, a short test tunnel was built in 1855 in Kibblesworth, a small town with geological properties similar to London. This test tunnel was used for two years in the development of the first underground train, and was later, in 1861, the worlds first underground railway, it opened in January 1863 between Paddington and Farringdon using gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives. It was hailed as a success, carrying 38,000 passengers on the opening day, the Metropolitan District Railway opened in December 1868 from South Kensington to Westminster as part of a plan for an underground inner circle connecting Londons main-line termini. The Metropolitan and District railways completed the Circle line in 1884, built using the cut and this opened in 1890 with electric locomotives that hauled carriages with small opaque windows, nicknamed padded cells. The Waterloo and City Railway opened in 1898, followed by the Central London Railway in 1900, the Metropolitan Railway protested about the change of plan, but after arbitration by the Board of Trade, the DC system was adopted. When the Bakerloo was so named in July 1906, The Railway Magazine called it an undignified gutter title, by 1907 the District and Metropolitan Railways had electrified the underground sections of their lines. In January 1913, the UERL acquired the Central London Railway, the Bakerloo line was extended north to Queens Park to join a new electric line from Euston to Watford, but World War I delayed construction and trains reached Watford Junction in 1917. During air raids in 1915 people used the stations as shelters. An extension of the Central line west to Ealing was also delayed by the war, the Metropolitan promoted housing estates near the railway with the Metro-land brand and nine housing estates were built near stations on the line. Electrification was extended north from Harrow to Rickmansworth, and branches opened from Rickmansworth to Watford in 1925, the Piccadilly line was extended north to Cockfosters and took over District line branches to Harrow and Hounslow. In 1933, most of Londons underground railways, tramway and bus services were merged to form the London Passenger Transport Board, the Waterloo & City Railway, which was by then in the ownership of the main line Southern Railway, remained with its existing owners. In the same year that the London Passenger Transport Board was formed, in the following years, the outlying lines of the former Metropolitan Railway closed, the Brill Tramway in 1935, and the line from Quainton Road to Verney Junction in 1936

3.
Thameslink Programme
–
Work includes platform lengthening, station remodelling, new railway infrastructure, and additional rolling stock. The project was proposed in 1991 following the successful introduction of the initial Thameslink service in 1988. After many delays, planning permission was granted in 2006 and funding was approved in October 2007, work started in 2009 and is expected to be complete in 2018. The Thameslink Programme is being carried out by Network Rail in association with the relevant train operating companies, passenger traffic between destinations in north and south London served by Thameslink services quadrupled after the first year of operation. The success of this project encouraged British Rail to develop proposals to extend the network. In 1993 responsibility for the project, intended to be complete by 2000, was transferred to Railtrack as detailed in the Railways Act of 1993 and this privatisation, combined with a recession in the UK economy, caused the first of many delays to the project. The Government and LCR did however reach agreement in June 1998 allowing the construction of High Speed 1, given the size of the project, the Deputy Prime Minister decided to call for a public inquiry, which began in June 2000 and closed in May 2001. As a result, the Deputy Prime Minister said in January 2003 that the project would not receive approval and that Network Rail must submit improved proposals and a new Environmental Statement. The delay also led to the Thameslink 2000 Agreement, the contract that obliged Network Rail/Railtrack to maintain responsibility for funding the project, responsibility for project funding was subsequently transferred to the Strategic Rail Authority. Network Rail revised the original proposal and submitted it along with an updated Environmental Statement dated 14 June 2004, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Transport called for a new public inquiry to begin in September 2005. During this period the Strategic Rail Authority was abolished by the Railways Act of 2005, the second public inquiry took place between September and December 2005, and the Inspector completed the report in February 2006, submitted to the DfT for consideration. In 2004 TfL had wanted to bring the Thameslink network into the London Underground network or have the route branded as a London Overground route and this would have meant the network being re-branded. On 24 July 2007, the Secretary of State for Transport, since the planning permission and legal powers associated with the project had already been granted, the project was now clear to proceed. However, project completion would be delayed until 2018 as the schedule was difficult to achieve. Construction is divided into three stages, each with Key outputs, Key Output 0 was to make service changes to allow other work to proceed. Key Output 1 is for work that had to be completed before the 2012 Olympics, work for Key Output 2 started after the London Olympics, with a planned completion date of summer 2018. The first stage, completed on 22 March 2009, was to service changes to allow the major work to take place. The terminal platforms at Blackfriars were closed, as was the Farringdon to Moorgate branch line, a 15 trains per hour peak-hour service was introduced on the core section between St. Pancras and Blackfriars

4.
Clerkenwell
–
Clerkenwell is an area of central London in the London Borough of Islington. It was an ancient parish and from 1900 to 1965 formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury, the well after which it was named was rediscovered in 1924. The watchmaking and watch repairing trades were once of great importance, in the 1850s the south-western part of Clerkenwell was known as Londons Little Italy because around 2,000 Italians had settled in the area. There are officially over 200,000 Italians in London, the Italian Procession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Sagra takes place each July in the streets surrounding the church. A small number of Italian businesses remain from the century including organ builders Chiappa Ltd. Many other Italian firms survive from the period but have relocated elsewhere, Clerkenwell took its name from the Clerks Well in Farringdon Lane. In the Middle Ages, the London Parish clerks performed annual mystery plays there, Part of the well remains visible, incorporated into a 1980s building called Well Court. It is visible through a window of that building on Farringdon Lane, access to the well is managed by Islington Local History Centre and visits can be arranged by appointment. The Monastic Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem had its English headquarters at the Priory of Clerkenwell, St Johns Gate survives in the rebuilt form of the Priory Gate. Its gateway, erected in 1504 in St Johns Square, served various purposes after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, for example, it was the birthplace of the Gentlemans Magazine in 1731, and the scene of Dr Johnsons work in connection with that journal. In modern times the gatehouse again became associated with the order and was in the early 20th century the headquarters of the St John Ambulance Association, an Early English crypt remains beneath the chapel of the order, which was otherwise mostly rebuilt in the 1950s after wartime bombing. The notorious deception of the Cock Lane Ghost, in which Johnson took great interest, was perpetrated nearby, the Charterhouse, near the boundary with the City of London, was originally a Carthusian monastery. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries the Charterhouse became a mansion and one owner, Thomas Sutton, subsequently left it with an endowment as a school. The almhouse remains but the relocated to Surrey and its part of the site is now a campus of Barts and The London School of Medicine. As it was a suburb beyond the confines of the London Wall, Clerkenwell was outside the jurisdiction of the somewhat puritanical City fathers, during the Elizabethan era Clerkenwell contained a notorious brothel quarter. In Shakespeares Henry IV, Part 2, Falstaff complains about Justice Shallow boasting of the wildness of his youth, the Clerkenwell Bridewell, a prison and correctional institute for prostitutes and vagrants, was known for savage punishment and endemic sexual corruption. In the 17th century South Clerkenwell became a place of residence. Oliver Cromwell owned a house on Clerkenwell Close, just off the Green, several aristocrats had houses there, most notably the Duke of Northumberland, as did people such as Erasmus Smith

5.
London Borough of Islington
–
The London Borough of Islington /ˈɪzlɪŋtən/ is a London borough in Inner London with an estimated population of 215,667. The borough contains two Westminster parliamentary constituencies, Islington North and Islington South & Finsbury, the local authority is Islington Council. The borough is home to football club Arsenal, one of the most successful clubs in England, Islington was originally named by the Saxons Giseldone, then Gislandune. The name means Gīslas hill from the Old English personal name Gīsla and dun hill, the name then later mutated to Isledon, which remained in use well into the 17th century when the modern form arose. In medieval times, Islington was just one of many manors in the area, along with Bernersbury, Neweton Berewe or Hey-bury. Islington came to be applied as the name for the parish covering these villages, on the merger with Finsbury, to form the modern borough this name came to be applied to the whole borough. It is a London borough council, one of thirty-two principal subdivisions of the area of Greater London. The council was created by the London Government Act 1963 and replaced two local authorities, Finsbury Metropolitan Borough Council and Islington Metropolitan Borough Council, the former Islington Metropolitan Town Hall, at the intersection of Upper Street and Richmond Grove, serves as the present Boroughs council building. Islington is divided into 16 wards, each electing three councillors, following the May 2014 election, Islington Council comprises 47 Labour Party councillors and 1 Green Party councillor. Of these 48 councillors, the Leader of the Council is Councillor Richard Watts, Islington is represented by two parliamentary constituencies. Islington North is represented by Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party, inmarsat has its head office in the borough. Islington has a variety of transportation services, with direct connections to the suburbs. Islington also has ten tube stations within its boundaries, with connections by the tube to all around London, farringdon station is also served by the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. There are also several London Overground stations in the borough, there are two prisons in Islington, a mens prison, HM Prison Pentonville and a womens prison HM Prison Holloway, which in the early 20th century was used to hold many suffragettes. The farm contains a range of animals from rabbits to cows to chickens. In 1801, the parishes that form the modern borough had a total population of 65,721. This rose steadily throughout the 19th century, as the district built up. The increase in population peaked before World War I, falling slowly in the aftermath until World War II began an exodus from London towards the new towns under the Abercrombie Plan for London, the decline in population reversed in the 1980s, but it remains below its 1971 level

6.
Network Rail
–
Network Rail is the owner and infrastructure manager of most of the rail network in England, Scotland and Wales. Network Rail is an arms length public body of the Department for Transport with no shareholders, since 1 September 2014, Network Rail has been classified as a public sector body. Britains railway system was built by companies, but it was nationalised by the Transport Act 1947. Infrastructure and passenger and freight services were separated at that time, between 1994 and 2002 the infrastructure was owned and operated by Railtrack. The Hatfield train crash on 17 October 2000 was a moment in the collapse of Railtrack. The costs of modernising the West Coast Main Line were also spiralling, the purchase was completed on 3 October 2002. The SRA was abolished in November 2006, the company moved its headquarters to Kings Place,90 York Way, from 40 Melton Street, Euston, in August 2008. In October 2008, Sir Ian McAllister announced that he would not stand for re-election as chairman of Network Rail and he had held the position for six years. He noted that as Network Rail moved to a new phase in its development it was appropriate for a new chairman to lead it there, many track safety initiatives have been introduced in the time Network Rail has been responsible for this area. This ruling came into force in January 2009 for maintenance and property workers and in April 2009 for infrastructure, in 2009, allegations appeared in the media from the Transport Salaried Staffs Association concerning treatment of Network Rail employees. Former chief executive Iain Coucher was also accused of financial impropriety involving unspecified payments to his business partner Victoria Pender during his tenure at Network Rail, an internal investigation held by Network Rail in 2010, vetted by its auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers, uncovered no evidence of wrongdoing. An independent enquiry headed by Anthony White QC in 2011 further examined the claims, critical commentary appeared in the media concerning the knighthood awarded to John Armitt in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to engineering and construction. The reorganisation has been interpreted as a move back towards vertical integration of track, in 2016 Network Rail failed to check whether the Flying Scotsman could fit through tunnels along the Borders Route resulting in the cancellation of a trip just 24 hours before departure. Scottish Transport Minister Derek Mackay branded the affair a debacle, Network Rails attempt to electrify the West Coast Mainline has been dogged by poor planning and cost overruns, the projected cost has ballooned from by £1.2 billion to £2. It however owns a fleet of departmental stock, although it owns over 2,500 railway stations, it manages only 18 of the biggest and busiest of them, all the other stations being managed by one or other of the various train operating companies. Network Rail has a 15-year lease on Square One in Manchester with 800 staff in one of Manchesters largest refurbished office spaces, Network Rail should not be confused with National Rail. National Rail is not an organisation, but merely a brand, used to explain, the majority of Network Rail lines also carry freight traffic, some lines are freight only. A few lines that carry passenger traffic are not part of the National Rail network, conversely, a few National Rail services operate over track which is not part of the Network Rail network

7.
Thameslink
–
It opened as a through service in 1988 and by 1998 was severely overcrowded, carrying more than 28,000 passengers in the morning peak. Almost all the services are operated by Thameslink. The Thameslink Programme is a major £5, in 2016, new Class 700 trains started operating on the route and are gradually replacing the Class 319, Class 377 and Class 387 trains which are being transferred elsewhere. Much of the route is over the Brighton Main Line and the part of the Midland Main Line. There is also a loop through Sutton and Wimbledon and a branch over the Catford Loop Line to Sevenoaks. Kings Cross Thameslink on Pentonville Road closed on 8 December 2007, trains operating the main line service include first-class accommodation, those operating from Luton and St Albans to Sutton and Wimbledon are usually standard class only. When Govia operated the original Thameslink franchise these services were designated Thameslink CityFlier and Thameslink CityMetro respectively, Govia Thameslink Railway now refers to these services as Route TL1 and Route TL2/TL3 respectively. The majority of fast trains run between Brighton and Bedford via London Bridge, suburban Loop trains start at either Wimbledon or Sutton and call at all stations to Luton. Suburban trains from Sevenoaks call at all stations via Swanley and Bromley South, Catford and Peckham Rye, terminating at West Hampstead on weekdays, additional services to/from Bedford or Luton or St Albans start or terminate at St Pancras. There are also jointly operated Thameslink/Southeastern services between Rochester, Ashford International or Bearsted and Bedford. A 24/6 service operates between Bedford and Three Bridges serving Luton Airport Parkway and Gatwick Airport, there were low-level platforms under the main part of Holborn Viaduct station known as the Snow Hill platforms, these can still be seen when leaving City Thameslink station travelling northwards. Both were to connect with a Paddington–Liverpool Street tunnel that he proposed and he also proposed a north-east/south- west route from Liverpool Street to Charing Cross, all designed to give London a comprehensive main-line network of connections. The Snow Hill Tunnel route remained open for freight trains until 1970. The Snow Hill tunnel was re-opened by British Rail to passenger trains after 72 years, on 29 January 1990 the section between Blackfriars and Farringdon was temporarily closed to permit the construction of a new alignment. The route through the site of the long-closed Ludgate Hill station, pauls station on the Underground, about 500 m away. Kings Cross Thameslink on Pentonville Road closed on 8 December 2007 when the Thameslink platforms at nearby St Pancras opened, in the south the services divide, main-line trains run through London Bridge to East Croydon and Brighton, but the other route has a more convoluted history. In 1988–91 trains went via Bromley to Orpington and Sevenoaks, and via Herne Hill, later, non-Brighton trains ran via Elephant & Castle and Streatham to West Croydon, Carshalton Beeches, Sutton, Epsom, Leatherhead and Effingham Junction, to Guildford. On the privatisation of British Rail, Thameslink was franchised to Thameslink, around 1995 the route was changed completely, with a route to Sutton via Mitcham Junction continuing on a loop to Wimbledon rejoining itself south of Streatham replacing the West Croydon service

8.
Listed building
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A listed building or listed structure, in the United Kingdom, is one that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The statutory bodies maintaining the list are Historic England in England, Cadw in Wales, Historic Scotland in Scotland, however, the preferred term in Ireland is protected structure. In England and Wales, an amenity society must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition. Owners of listed buildings are, in circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them. When alterations are permitted, or when listed buildings are repaired or maintained, slightly different systems operate in each area of the United Kingdom, though the basic principles of the listing remain the same. It was the damage to caused by German bombing during World War II that prompted the first listing of buildings that were deemed to be of particular architectural merit. The listings were used as a means of determining whether a building should be rebuilt if it was damaged by bombing. Listing was first introduced into Northern Ireland under the Planning Order 1972, the listing process has since developed slightly differently in each part of the UK. In the UK, the process of protecting the historic environment is called ‘designation’. A heritage asset is a part of the environment that is valued because of its historic. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have legal protection through designation. However, buildings that are not formally listed but still judged as being of heritage interest are still regarded as being a consideration in the planning process. Almost anything can be listed – it does not have to be a building, Buildings and structures of special historic interest come in a wide variety of forms and types, ranging from telephone boxes and road signs, to castles. Historic England has created twenty broad categories of structures, and published selection guides for each one to aid with assessing buildings and these include historical overviews and describe the special considerations for listing each category. Both Historic Scotland and Cadw produce guidance for owners, in England, to have a building considered for listing or delisting, the process is to apply to the secretary of state, this can be done by submitting an application form online to Historic England. The applicant does not need to be the owner of the building to apply for it to be listed, full information including application form guidance notes are on the Historic England website. Historic England assesses buildings put forward for listing or delisting and provides advice to the Secretary of State on the architectural, the Secretary of State, who may seek additional advice from others, then decides whether or not to list or delist the building. In England and Wales the authority for listing is granted to the Secretary of State by the Planning Act 1990, Listed buildings in danger of decay are listed on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register

9.
Tramlink
–
Tramlink is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It began operation in 2000, the first tram system in London since 1952 and it is owned by London Trams, an arm of Transport for London, and operated by FirstGroup. The Tramlink is the fourth-busiest light rail network in the UK behind Manchester Metrolink, Tyne and Wear Metro, in 1990 Croydon Council with London Regional Transport put the project to Parliament and the Croydon Tramlink Act 1994 resulted, which gave LRT the power to build and run Tramlink. In 1996 Tramtrack Croydon Limited won a 99-year Private Finance Initiative contract to design, build, operate, TCL was a partnership comprising FirstGroup, Bombardier Transportation, Sir Robert McAlpine and Amey, and Royal Bank of Scotland and 3i. TCL kept the revenue generated by Tramlink and LRT had to pay compensation to TCL for any changes to the fares, TCL subcontracted operations to CentreWest Buses. One of the leading to its creation was that the London Borough of Croydon has no London Underground service. There are four routes, Route 1 – Elmers End to Croydon, Route 2 – Beckenham Junction to Croydon, Route 3 – New Addington to Wimbledon, and Route 4 – Therapia Lane to Elmers End. Route 2 runs parallel to the Crystal Palace to Beckenham Junction line of the Southern network between Birkbeck and Beckenham Junction – the National Rail track had been singled some years earlier. At Woodside the old station buildings stand disused, and the platforms have been replaced by accessible low platforms. From Woodside to near Sandilands and from near Sandilands almost to Lloyd Park, Tramlink follows the former Woodside and South Croydon Railway, including the Park Hill tunnels. The section of Route 3 between Wimbledon and West Croydon mostly follows the single-track British Rail route, closed on 31 May 1997 so that it could be converted for Tramlink, a partial obstruction near this point has necessitated the use of interlaced track. A Victorian footbridge beside Waddon New Road was dismantled to make way for the flyover over the West Croydon to Sutton railway line, the footbridge has been re-erected at Corfe Castle station on the Swanage Railway. In March 2008, TfL announced that it had reached agreement to buy TCL for £98m, the purchase was finalised on 28 June 2008. The background to this purchase relates to the requirement that TfL compensates TCL for the consequences of any changes to the fares, in 2007 that payment was £4m, with an annual increase in rate. In October 2008 TfL introduced a new livery, using the blue, white and green of the routes on TfL maps, the colour of the cars was changed to green, and the brand name was changed from Croydon Tramlink to simply Tramlink. These refurbishments were completed in early 2009, the tram stops have low platforms,35 cm above rail level. They are unstaffed and have automated ticket machines, in general, access between the platforms involves crossing the tracks by pedestrian level crossing. There are 39 stops, most being 32.2 m long and they are virtually level with the doors and are all wider than 2 m

10.
City of London
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The City of London is a city and county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, the City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. Administratively, it one of the 33 local authority districts of Greater London, however, the City of London is not a London borough. The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City and is colloquially known as the Square Mile. Both of these terms are often used as metonyms for the United Kingdoms trading and financial services industries. The name London is now used for a far wider area than just the City. London most often denotes the sprawling London metropolis, or the 32 London boroughs and this wider usage of London is documented as far back as 1888, when the County of London was created. The local authority for the City, namely the City of London Corporation, is unique in the UK and has some unusual responsibilities for a local council and it is also unusual in having responsibilities and ownerships beyond its boundaries. The Corporation is headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the current Lord Mayor, as of November 2016, is Andrew Parmley. The City is a business and financial centre. Throughout the 19th century, the City was the primary business centre. London came top in the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index, published in 2008, the insurance industry is focused around the eastern side of the City, around Lloyds building. A secondary financial district exists outside of the City, at Canary Wharf,2.5 miles to the east, the City has a resident population of about 7,000 but over 300,000 people commute to and work there, mainly in the financial services sector. It used to be held that Londinium was first established by merchants as a trading port on the tidal Thames in around 47 AD. However, this date is only supposition, many historians now believe London was founded some time before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. They base this notion on evidence provided by both archaeology and Welsh literary legend, archaeologists have claimed that as much as half of the best British Iron Age art and metalwork discovered in Britain has been found in the London area. One of the most prominent examples is the famously horned Waterloo Helmet dredged from the Thames in the early 1860s and now exhibited at the British Museum. Also, according to an ancient Welsh legend, a king named Lud son of Heli substantially enlarged and improved a pre-existing settlement at London which afterwards came to be renamed after him, the same tradition relates how this Lud son of Heli was later buried at Ludgate

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Metropolitan Railway
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Its first line connected the main-line railway termini at Paddington, Euston, and Kings Cross to the City. It opened to the public on 10 January 1863 with gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives, the line was soon extended from both ends, and northwards via a branch from Baker Street. Harrow was reached in 1880, and the line extended to Verney Junction in Buckinghamshire, more than 50 miles from Baker Street. Electric traction was introduced in 1905 and by 1907 electric multiple units operated most of the services, unlike other railway companies in the London area, the Met developed land for housing, and after World War I promoted housing estates near the railway using the Metro-land brand. On 1 July 1933, the Met was amalgamated with the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, former Met tracks and stations are used by the London Undergrounds Metropolitan, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Piccadilly, and Jubilee lines, and by Chiltern Railways. In the first half of the 19th century the population and physical extent of London grew greatly, only Fenchurch Street station was within the City. The congested streets and the distance to the City from the stations to the north, none were successful, and the 1846 Royal Commission investigation into Metropolitan Railway Termini banned construction of new lines or stations in the built-up central area. The concept of a railway linking the City with the mainline termini was first proposed in the 1830s. Charles Pearson, Solicitor to the City, was a promoter of several schemes. The scheme was rejected by the 1846 commission, but Pearson returned to the idea in 1852 when he helped set up the City Terminus Company to build a railway from Farringdon to Kings Cross. Although the plan was supported by the City, the companies were not interested. The Bayswater, Paddington, and Holborn Bridge Railway Company was established to connect the Great Western Railways Paddington station to Pearsons route at Kings Cross, a bill was published in November 1852 and in January 1853 the directors held their first meeting and appointed John Fowler as its engineer. After successful lobbying, the company secured parliamentary approval under the name of the North Metropolitan Railway in the summer of 1853 and this dropped the City terminus and extended the route south from Farringdon to the General Post Office in St. Martins Le Grand. The route at the end was also altered so that it connected more directly to the GWR station. Permission was also sought to connect to the London and North Western Railway at Euston and to the Great Northern Railway at Kings Cross, the companys name was also to be changed again, to Metropolitan Railway. Royal assent was granted to the North Metropolitan Railway Act on 7 August 1854, construction of the railway was estimated to cost £1 million. Initially, with the Crimean War under way, the Met found it hard to raise the capital, while it attempted to raise the funds it presented new bills to Parliament seeking an extension of time to carry out the works. In July 1855, an Act to make a connection to the GNR at Kings Cross received royal assent

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Hammersmith & City line
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The Hammersmith & City line of the London Underground runs between Hammersmith and Barking. Coloured salmon pink on the map, it serves 29 stations in 15.8 miles. It runs below ground in the section between Paddington and Bow Road, between Farringdon and Aldgate East it skirts the City of London, the capitals financial heart. The tunnels are just below the surface and are a size to those on British main lines. In 1863, the Metropolitan Railway began the worlds first underground railway service between Paddington and Farringdon with wooden carriages and steam locomotives. The following year, a railway west from Paddington to Hammersmith was opened, the line was then extended to the east, in stages, reaching the East London Railway in 1884. The Hammersmith & City route was shown on the map as part of the Metropolitan line until 1990. The track and signalling systems are being upgraded, and the old 6-car C Stock trains have been replaced by new 7-car S Stock trains in a programme to increase capacity by 65 per cent by 2019. The line runs parallel to the Great Western Main Line between Paddington and Westbourne Park, and parallel to the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway between West Ham and Barking. The line was mostly under the New Road using the cut-and-cover method between Paddington and Kings Cross and then in tunnel and cuttings beside Farringdon Road. From 1865 the Met ran trains to Hammersmith and the GWR trains to Addison Road, in 1867 the line became jointly owned by the two companies. A year earlier some services had been extended via London & South Western Railways Hammersmith railway station, the railway was extended east of Farringdon and a terminus opened at Aldgate on 18 November 1876. In October 1884 the Met extended some Hammersmith services over the ELR to New Cross, the 6-car electric multiple units were jointly owned by the Met and GWR until 1923 when the GWR sold theirs to the Met. On 1 July 1933 the Metropolitan Railway was amalgamated with other Underground railways, tramway companies, to relieve congestion on the District line east of Whitechapel from 1936 some trains from Hammersmith were diverted from the East London line to Barking. However, this caused problems and from 1941 Barking was again served by trains from Hammersmith. From 1937 new steel O stock trains, with remotely operated by the guard. It had been intended to operate the new trains with four or six cars, services to Kensington via the curve at Latimer Road were suspended in 1940 after bomb damage to the West London line and not restarted after the war. When the similar trains running on the Circle line were lengthened to six cars in 1959 and 1960, aluminium C Stock trains, with public address systems and originally unpainted, replaced these trains from 1970